A boyhood memory

 I am still battling on making scale models. Each one has to have some resonance with me. The latest completed model is a Harvard RAF trainer. It was also known in Canada as The Texan.

I suppose it was when I was about twelve (circa 1952) that my father would take us three brothers out somewhere on a Sunday afternoon to fulfil his access to us after my parents divorce and we were living with Mother. One of the venues we visited was Yeadon Airfield, a minor affair in those days but important because Avro had a purpose built factory alongside from 1939 where a variety of WW11 planes were constructed and rolled out on Yeadon Airfield for delivery. A short bit of more detailed history,  which is of above average interest, can be seen here : CLICK

Yeadon airfield has since become Leeds and Bradford Airport.

Father was deaf and therefore excluded from regular military service during WW11 but he served throughout manning the Observer Corps station on Otley Chevin with a crew on a rota basis where they would monitor passing aircraft and lookout for invaders. Father therefore had a good working knowledge of operational aircraft at the time.

One of those more or less insignificant snippets that remain inexplicably with one for a lifetime when  much else disappears from the memory was uttered by father in his gruff and authoritative voice as we watched a plane circling in the sky above the aerodrome,

"That's a Harvard, they're very noisy."

With that association and the unusual yellow livery, which I learned was the standard RAF colour for training aircraft, I was hooked when I saw there was a kit available.

Different colour paints have different application qualities. For instance silver demands a black primer. I had forgotten that yellow is difficult to get good coverage and it is best to use a white primer. I used grey resulting in the need to apply more coats of yellow to get good coverage. Scale modelling covers a wide variety of skills, particularly when "weathering" models to make them look realistically used;  learning is a never ending process.

Mine is meant to look as though it has been relentlessly used by many different trainee pilots passing through. 

 Please let me know if there is any problem watching this video.